


Lost and Found

by mistressterably



Series: One offs - Doctor Who related [35]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-04 19:36:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5346101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistressterably/pseuds/mistressterably
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's amazing what you can find as an archaeologist</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost and Found

The abandoned dwelling called to River. It was at least a few kilometers away from the main village which had been buried for centuries. This one though had been spared the landslides over the years. While the rest of her team were scanning the buried site, she had decided to take a look at this building. It had been investigated ages ago by a previous archaeological team. River had never agreed with their conclusions that it had been a natural disaster that had spelled the end of this village. The culture had been a fascinating one that had built on the mythical elements of their beliefs to grow into a sophisticated one that had spread through the galaxy. To this day, despite all of their society’s attempts to become taller they were no taller than they had been when this village had been destroyed. Most homes were built with an average person’s height of four feet.

The door, made of local woods, had rotted away long ago. Patches of the wall had crumbled too. Inside, the single large room was gloomy and empty. Only some marks on the wall indicated where there had been benches for the residents to sleep in. Above her, the peaked area under the roof still had the remnants of hooks used to dry foodstuff and keep them off the floor. Switching on her hand torch, River turned about to face the wall by the door. This is what she had been looking for - the wall mural. It was faded now but she could still see the colours and a rough outline of what had been on there in the past. 

With the beam of light dancing over it, River smiled. ‘Thought so.’ There was a faded patch of blue to one corner of the mural and then a smaller patch of grey just emerging from it. ‘Naughty man. Getting involved again.’

Opening her journal, she reviewed the notes she had made of the local legends.

The skies opened, swirls of red and yellow, arching over us all. Why Gods! Why! Why do you punish us so! Send us deliverance from the wrath of the Evil Ones! Then, the prayers of all were answered! The red pierced by the Blue One! Deliver us, Ancient One! Deliver us!

That was the only hint she had found until she had seen an old sketch of the mural. It was faded even then but now seeing it for herself, River could make out the box like structure. The small patch of grey though made her smile wider. No wonder he’d never mentioned it before. It had happened to him later in his timeline than what she had encountered so far. She took some high res images of the mural and was turning to leave the building when something didn’t feel right to her. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the sonic screwdriver he had given to her not that long ago. Holding it in her hand, she could feel it humming. Curious, River did a scan and then her smile got even wider. 

‘Doctor, you really do need to remember to pick up after yourself!’ Using the sonic screwdriver, River was led to a small dip in the floor. With her trowel she knelt down and began to carefully dig. It was about a foot down but she found it. His sonic screwdriver was beaten up and covered in dirt. Pulling it free from it’s grave, River began to clean it off. Her own sonic was humming more loudly and pulsing in response to the proximity of the Doctor’s old sonic. Soon, it began to come to life. As she began to stand up and leave the small house, the light from the door was dimmed.

‘Maybe, just maybe, you’ll stop stalking me through all of time and space?’ 

His long figure, even crouched down, filled the doorway but she knew that figure instinctively. He entered and held out his hand. ‘Thanks for digging it up for me.’

‘As if I’m just going to give it back to you, Doctor.’ River teased, holding it out of his reach. ‘How did you manage to lose it here?’

‘There was an old space junker in a high orbit that began to see deterioration and was on a course to wipe out this village. Not their fault that some idiot millenia ago were litterbugs. I re-directed the hulk and it landed on the other side of the mountains. I think the melted lump of metals wound up sparking an advance in their society about a thousand years after. Unfortunately, I set my screwdriver down and during the excitement and party afterwards, someone I think pinched it for a souvenir. It was drained anyway so I didn’t bother.’

‘Now all of a sudden you want it back?’ River still wasn’t giving it back to him.

‘I already gave you one, letting you have two is like giving you an extra box of chocolates on our wedding anniversary. Too much of a good thing.’ His smile was accompanied by a wink as he gestured with those unbearably long fingers of his. 

‘I wouldn’t have used it.’ River said, slightly put out at having to hand it over to him. 

‘Of course you wouldn’t have,’ The Doctor agreed, ‘Unless you had to.’

‘Of course,’ River rested the sonic in his hand, looking at him through her curls as his hand went round hers. ‘Only if I absolutely had to.’

‘But you already have ways to get my attention don’t you? Not like you really need my sonic to do that.’ The Doctor, his shockingly grey curls almost a match for her own curls, bent his head as he lifted her hand up and kissed her fingers lightly. 

‘Romance in a deserted hut?’ River looked at him.

‘Better than an otter’s holt.’ The Doctor grinned at her. 

River placed a finger on his lips, ‘Spoliers!’

‘Something for you to look forward to then,’ His hands were on her face, pulling her lips to his for a long kiss.


End file.
